Which to use
“bested” and “bestow” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #40,581
- “bested” frequency rank
- #29,557
- “bestow” frequency rank
- 70138
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bested | bestow |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of best | To apply or make use of (someone or something); to employ, to use. |
Where the eye mixes bested and bestow
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses bested with bestow
A purely visual mix-up. bested (/ˈbɛstɪd/) and bestow (/bɪˈstəʊ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70138, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bested is recorded at frequency rank #40,581, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈbɛstɪd/. bestow is at rank #29,557, tagged as averb, pronounced /bɪˈstəʊ/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 70138, this pair ranks #51,749 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of bested vs bestow
Shared letters: best. Private to "bested": d. Private to "bestow": ow.
"bested" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "bestow" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bested" for "bestow" ever safe?
Frequency check: "bested" vs "bestow" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "bested" and "bestow" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "bested" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bestow" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #51,749 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bested" and "bestow" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bested vs bestie". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #51,749 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.